Ninja Bartender Naruto
by Unhallow
Summary: After two years of working at a bar, the owner dies, leaving Naruto to take care of the joint. Naruto helps out the occasional love life, but will he forget his own in the process? Pairings later. Adult themes and implied sex, sorry, I suck at summaries.
1. Inheritance

Hey all! This is the first fic I've posted, so try and not kill me in the reviews! I'll start posting more when people start reviewing, so give it a whirl! This is kindof a slow chapter, but it's gotta start somewhere, right? There are a lot of originals in this chapter, but this should be the extent of them, and next chapter (if people review…) we'll actually get some real characters. Pairings will develop later on, so I haven't forgotten! Ok, I'm done now.

"Ok Kid, this place is your! Watch out for the loose floor board in the back and don't hit yourself on the way out!" the salesman said quickly, shutting the old door behind him with a snap.

Naruto sighed. He looked around the place, and decided that it could really use some work. He had just 'inherited' one of the oldest, grubbiest bars in Konoha, and had to take a moment to get his bearings.

It had all started when he was sixteen, and being a ninja wasn't exactly paying the bills. After being evicted from his little house, he had kind of wandered for a while. He had tried to mooch off Sakura, but she was one of those 'no boys allowed' people. Like he would have tried anything. Much.

He had thought of Sasuke, maybe hoping the bastard would feel grateful for Naruto having pulled him back from Orochimaru, but he slammed the door after a rain of shuriken told him otherwise.

The occasional ninja mission gave him some money, but it was kind of a problem when there wasn't anything you could do with the money. Eventually, on about his hundredth time around Konoha, he spied a 'help wanted' sign in a window.

He had walked up, and apparently the place was a bar. The man who ran it, an elderly man named Gin, was looking for a waiter/bouncer to work for him. The pay was good, and he said that Naruto could have on of the bedrooms in the back of the shop when it closed.

"Why are there bedrooms in a bar?" Naruto asked suspiciously. He heard a light, tinkling laugh over his shoulder and turned to see a very attractive woman in long serving pants and a white, button down men's shirt.

"Because sometimes the clients want more than a drink to go to bed with." The woman said, introducing herself as Tae the barmaid. Over the years they had worked together, Naruto had noticed that she was clever, strong for someone not a ninja, and had displayed every emotion he had ever thought possible sincerely at least once.

It only took the first day of work for Naruto to get what she was talking about, not having got it before because he was, as Tae pointed out with a laugh, 'very innocent'. The bar opened at 8, and at about 10 seven women he had never seen before filed in, wearing variously suggestive clothes.

They all had a drink before walking into the back hallway and stepping through one of the eight doors. Naruto's room was purposely absent from those entered. After a bit, men and women of all types sidled over to the bar and asked Tae where they could find the 'adult services' (90 of them winked as they said this.) Tae gave the same little giggle, seductive look and forefinger point to every, as Gin called them, mark that came her way.

Naruto, meanwhile, had been too busy serving drinks to everyone that came to notice, until he walked to his room to get something and heard various moans, cries of happiness, and other sex noises coming through the wall.

"Tae, what the hell is going on in the back!" Naruto said, rushing back to the counter, forgetting what he had gone to get.

Tae laughed. "Probably what it sounded like." She said, pushing a platter of drinks to his hand and pointing to the table behind him. As he served the table, it occurred to him that this meant he was working at a brothel. What would he tell his friends? What would he tell Sakura?

Eventually, he was able to look at it from the business angle, and avoid thinking about what was happening. He always felt vaguely sorry for the women, however, since they didn't seem particularly happy and, as far as Naruto could tell, didn't like their jobs.

Now, as he leaned back on one of the circular leather booths set into the wall, he wondered just what he was going to do. It was one thing to tell his friends he worked as a barman for a brothel, but to OWN a brothel? Was that even legal!

He slapped a hand to his forehead. Not only that, but he was hopeless with finances. All he ever felt he needed to know was 'make a profit'. Now he would have to keep track of his workers pay, and tally his entire inventory, and record what the customers liked so he could get more of it, and it made his head spin just thinking about it.

He wasn't particularly sad about Gin's death. He hadn't been a very nice man, to Naruto or to anyone, and he hadn't known him very well, but he was touched in a way that the bar was left to him. He kind of felt obligated to keep it running, like a dead man's last wish or something, which prevent him from just selling the place and moving on.

He probably wouldn't have done that anyway. The old barn had grown on him, and he felt attached to it, which probably wasn't healthy, but he didn't care. The average shinobi's lifespan was only 30 years anyway. Might as well enjoy them.

A rickety clock on the wall rang out seven bells, an hour from when the place would normally open. Tae would be coming in early, like she always did, but Naruto wasn't quite ready to deal with customers yet. He hung a sign saying closed except for staff outside his door, and waited.

Sure enough, Naruto heard the click of a key in the lock and Tae walked in. "Hey Naruto. So this whole place is yours now, isn't it?" she said, walking to a booth and sinking into it, kicking her feet up on the table. "Not quite hygienic, I know, but they get washed before people come in and worse stuff has landed on the babies than my shoes, believe you me." She said at Naruto's glance at her feet.

"Ok…" he sighed and took a seat across from her. "Yeah, this place is mine now. Don't know how I'm gonna make it, but I'll do it. Somehow. I hope." He said.

Tae laughed again. "So, am I still on the payroll, 'boss'?" she said, putting a mocking emphasis on the last word.

Naruto waved his hand impatiently. "Of course, wouldn't be the same without you. And don't call me boss." He said with a shiver. "Naruto had been fine before, and Naruto is fine now. Ok, let's start cleaning this place."

It was hard work. The floors were grubby, so were the tables, and the leather on most of the booths was almost as dead as Gin. "Couldn't he have died earlier, when this place was a bit nicer?" he grumbled, scrubbing over the same patch of floor for the hundredth time. The ring of the automatic doorbell sounded the arrival of the rest of the women, who sat themselves unceremoniously in various booths and were waiting what was going to happen.

Naruto stood up, wincing as his back cracked audibly. "Ok, now, before we start, there are a couple of things I want to know. By a show of hands, who here actually likes their job?" and he wasn't surprised to see that not a single person like it. "Ok, and who here can find another job?" again, no one raised their hand.

Naruto sighed. "Ok, I can take a hint. Can any of you work the financing of this place?" No one raised their hand for a while, until one of the newer women, younger than the rest, put up her hand.

"Um…I finished high school about a month ago, so I can do math and stuff."

"Ok, you'll do. Tae, can you help her get the hang of it?" After a nod from the barmaid, he sent the girl over. "Now, before we do anything else, who hear wants to work for me?" only two of the girls raised their hand. "And will the rest of you hate me for telling you your fired?" no one raised their hand, so he told them they could leave. He felt a bit like a school teacher, with all this hand raising.

"Do any of you have any discernable talents? At all?" Naruto asked, slightly aggravated. It would be a lot easier if he could just solve his staffing problems right here and now.

"I can cook." One of the women said.

"I have talents in the sack, but I think we're trying to get around that." One woman said with a smile.

"Ok, you can cook and you two can wait on tables, ok?" There was a nod from everyone, until Tae called out from the back "We don' have a kitchen!"

"Well, how much do they cost?" Naruto shouted back with a sigh. "Never mind, I'll look into it. Hey, are any of you good at gambling?" there was a general assent, but one girl stepped out, boldly proclaiming her skills.

"Then why didn't you way that when I asked for skills?" Naruto said. "Ok, here, take this." He handed her a fairly large stack of money from his wallet. "This'll be your application exam. If you can double this and bring it back to me from the casino, I'll open a poker table here and raise your salary if you're willing to work it. If you come back with less money than I gave you, you're fired. Sound good?" with a nod and a smile, the girl turned on her heel and walked out the door.

"Ok, I'm going to go do some manager stuff. You all, I want you to get to work cleaning everything in sight. Don't kill yourselves, but if it's made of wood, I want to be able to see what color it is, ok?" They all agreed, and after grabbing various cleaning supplies went to work.

Naruto walked over to an appliance store. After learning what a professional grade kitchen needed, he worked out that it would cost him about 5 weeks of profits, if things were going at the same rate they had been, allowing for one day of closure each week.

Then it hit him. Crap, what was he going to do about the brothel? Almost a quarter of the money they made was made at the brothel! He couldn't just close it, it was too profitable. But he also couldn't just make all the girls go back to being prostitutes. It must be a horrible life, to do that every night with people you didn't even know because you don't have another option.

He thought for a long time on this. Suddenly, he had a flash back to his training under the super pervert, Jiraya.

"Naruto! It's time for your payment!" Jiraya shouted, looking around for the boy. He was sitting cross legged on a rock in the middle of a lake, and as soon as he heard this he winced.

"Again? I paid you last night!" He whined. "Besides, that's soooo perverted, I don't even want to think about it!"

"Do I have to go over this again!" Jiraya said, slapping a hand to his head. "Ok, look. It's easy, it doesn't cost you a dime, and its training!"

Naruto looked at him suspiciously. "Training, huh? That's a new one. How does this count for training?" he said, leaping off his rock and landing beside Jiraya with a soft thunk.

"It teaches you, not only to maintain a large number of kage bunshins at one, but also to maintain them longer, in difficult conditions, and to make them more durable!" he said, pausing between each reason as he thought about it.

Naruto sighed, clasped his hands together, and said, "Kage Bunshin no jutsu…" in a slightly defeated voice. Instantly, two copies of Naruto appeared next to him. They brought up their hands in another seal, and instantly transformed into two naked girls, who flocked to Jiraya's side.

The pervert sennin coughed slightly. "A _large_ number of clones…" Naruto sighed and repeated himself. Jiraya looked pretty happy, surrounded by four naked women acting seductive. He led them to the tent, and Naruto sat in a tree a ways away.

Five minutes later, the tent was shaking and shadows were playing havoc on the side, suggestive poses enlarged on the wall. Various sounds could be heard from within, and cried of 'oh yeah' and 'oh my god' were common. Naruto sat, facing the other direction, facing the other direction, hands clapped over his ears and a look of concentration on his face.

"LALALALALALALALALALA I'M NOT LISTENING! LALALALALA JIRAYA, I'M GETTING TIRED!" he shouted, trying desperately to keep his clones together while not thinking of his teacher having sex with his clones.

He slapped a hand to his forehead. "I can't believe something Jiraya did would actually help me, never mind that it's probably my least favorite part of the whole experience."

He walked back to his bar, walked inside and gasped. It looked like a whole new place, and a lot nicer than it had been. The floor, now free of god only knows what that black goop was turned out to be a beautiful dark rose wood, slick and glossy. The tables were of the same material, the tops lighter with a dark trim. The leather would have to be replaced, but it was still a nice place.

"Holy shit…" he said, walking in and admiring the handiwork. "You guys must have working really hard…"

"No…shit…" Tae wheezed from the corner, leaning on a mop. Her thin blond hair was frazzled, and she was sweating.

"Yeah…do we…get paid…for this?" the woman next to her said. She had dark, cropped hair and comfortable work clothes, and like Tae was sweating hard.

"No, but thanks anyway. What's your name, by the way?" Naruto asked, realizing that he didn't actually know. At first he was too much of a kid to want to deal with them, and then he left them along out of habit.

"I'm… Motoko…" she wheezed. She was a tall, voluptuous woman of around 20, with light brown hair pulled back into a long ponytail.

"Motoko, right, nice to meet ya." Naruto said, shaking her hand slightly. "Well, either way this place looks great."

Both women mumbled thanks. The door bell sounded, and the girl he had sent to the casino walked in, looking flushed but very happy with herself. Before Naruto could say anything, she grabbed his hand, forced a wad of cash into it, and flopped down at one of the booths. "Told you I could do it!" she said proudly.

Naruto counted it up, and sure enough, she did it. She had just doubled what he had. "All in poker?" he asked, and she nodded vaguely. "Ok, then do you have any objections to starting a poker table in the corner over there?" He gestured to a side of the room, and she shook her head. She looked very tired.

"And your name is…?" Naruto asked slowly.

"Ikadeku Mitsune. And it's Naruto, right?"

"Yeah, nice to meet you. Ok everyone, we're opening tomorrow night, and we seem to be done here for tonight. See you all tomorrow, rest up, and try and get some publicity along the way." He said, clapping his hands together. As everyone left, he locked the door behind him and headed to his room in the back. Tomorrow was going to be one hell of a day.


	2. Opening Night

Wow, I actually got reviews! I'm so happy. All reviews old me to update, so I will. Then again, when people review do they ever tell you 'just kill this fic now!'? anyway, I hope this chapter works as well. I've still got the whole 'writer doubt' thing going on, but that's never stopped me before, so yeah.

Hex and Anni chan: thanks! I don't know how or why it would ever occur to me, it just did, so yeah. Maybe I have some random aspiration to be a bartender locked up deep inside me. Strange calling. I hope I don't let you down…

XAegis-SRX: you know, I never even thought about that. I guess most of my names are from Love Hina, and I guess their personalities are kind of similar… never thought about that. I dunno, does the Love Hina reference make it better?

Anyway, On with the show!

Naruto woke up with a yawn. Grumbling, he flopped himself out of bed and walked over to the small portable stove in the corner of his room. He couldn't wait till they got that new kitchen, and then he could make something other than ramen, for once. Too much of a good thing is bad, even with ramen.

He glanced at the clock, marveling that it was only around 1:30 pm. Usually he slept a lot later, but then again he didn't work last night. Stretching slightly, he popped on a comfortable t-shirt and some slacks and walked out; wincing at how bright it was in the shop. Sun streamed in from the windows, lighting everything up and playing havoc with his eyes.

Grumbling slightly, he grabbed his jacket from the coat stand near the door and walked out. One of the perks of working during the night was having your days free. A cup of coffee in hand, he sat down and enjoyed the morning.

Today's agenda was pretty simple; try and get as many of his friends to come and bring money as he could. Attracting new business was important. He still didn't know quite what he was going to say, on the other hand. It was kind of delicate, as many still lived with their (usually overprotective) parents, and in any case saying he owned a brothel was tantamount to suicide.

First things first, however. He bought a large poker table to pop in the corner with Mitsune and arranged to have it dropped off later. He remembered that the girls tended to train around this time, so he headed to the training grounds.

As he walked up, he confirmed the familiar faces and profiles of the kunoichi of Konoha. Tenten, Hinata, Sakura and Ino were all there, Hinata taking a break along the side. Sasuke and Neji were there too, along with Lee.

"Hey, everybody!" Naruto called over, shading his eyes against the sun.

"Yo, Naruto, you ready to go one on one? I'll kick your ass." Sasuke said menacingly, still determined to pay Naruto back for rescuing him from Orochimaru.

"Not today, Sasuke. I've got my focus on more mundane arrangements, thanks." He sat down next to the boys, watching Ino, Sakura and Tenten go at it. "Anyway, I just came to invite you all to the grand opening of my bar tonight." He said casually, though his statement was answered with a general ruckus.

"Since when have you had a bar?" Sakura asked, leering at him menacingly. Naruto really wished she would put those kunai down…

"A bar, really!" Tenten said, leaning foreword. Behind her, Neji, who had so far remained silent, winced. Naruto could almost see the gears working. Everyone knew Tenten had been attempting to seduce Neji for a while now, and this seemed just too perfect.

"Sounds great, Naruto. I'm sure Kiba and Shino would like to go too." Hinata said in her usual quiet voice.

"A bar, eh? Sounds like the site of many a youthful experience! I'd love to go! And if my beautiful Sakura would accompany me…" Lee said, bending at the waist toward Sakura with a hopeful glint in his eye.

He was firmly rejected. "Although if Sasuke wanted to go…" Sakura said, almost exactly copying Lee. She too was shot down.

Naruto chuckled. "Well, I'm betting it was the site of many 'youthful experiences'." He said, laughing at Lee's unintentional metaphor.

"And this means…" Sakura said, promptly smashing her fist onto Naruto's head.

"Nothing, Sakura, nothing at all, except…" he trailed off, mumbling the rest.

"Except what, Naruto?" Hinata asked, leaning toward him. He whispered something in her ear. "What, I couldn't hear you." She said, cupping her hand toward him. When she finally understood, she blushed scarlet.

"Naruto says that the bar used to be a brothel, and that in order to make good money, he's kept it as…one…" she finished, wincing as Sakura smashed her fist into Naruto's face, sending the boy flying.

"You pervert, Naruto! That's the kind of thing old men are supposed to do, not 18-year olds!" she shouted, launching after him.

"Jeez, I never really thought about it in the perverted way." He shrugged, ducking under her punch. "I guess after two years you just get used to thinking of it as a business."

"Two years…?" Sasuke said incredulously.

"Ah, Naruto has been living his springtime of youth to the fullest!" Lee said, leaping up.

"Well, I bet Sasuke doesn't mind the brothel, and Neji and Lee probably don't either." Ino said reasonably. "Still, it's definitely not a good thing to support people having sex for money."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that." Naruto said, getting up from the ground and brushing his shirt off. "It's kept in the back, away from the main bar, and suffice to say no one is forced to have sex for money." He spoke with a tone of finality. "Anyway, I hope you guys can make it, it'll be fun." With that he said his goodbyes and walked away.

"I think they took it rather well." Naruto said back in the bar. Tae had come to help him make some last minute adjustments to the table layout and to install the poker table.

"At least they don't think you're a greasy slime ball." She said with a grunt. She was very strong for a bartender. "So, you think any of them will end up out back?" she said with a short-lived grin.

Naruto laughed. "Probably not. Maybe Sasuke will, if he gets drunk enough. We'll just have to wait and see." He looked at his watch. "Well, it's almost opening time. Here, I got you a suit." He said, holding out a box. Inside was a long black men's suit, and after trying it on it fit Tae pretty well.

"Thanks. I look very official. Almost like a mobster." She said, whipping out a pair of sunglasses. In Naruto's opinion, she looked very sexy, but he didn't say anything more than a grunt of approval.

Mitsune walked in, wearing a card shark's uniform, followed swiftly by Motoko. "Hey all!" Mitsune said, guiding Motoko in by her shoulders. "Hope tonight's gonna' be fun, because I just drank about four cups of coffee!" she said, grinning widely.

After a bit of discussion, she positioned herself behind the poker table, shuffling the cards idly. "Hey, Motoko, here's your uniform." Naruto said, walking up and giving another box similar to Tae's. The woman opened it, revealing a black, short skirted waitress's uniform.

"Wonderful." She said sarcastically, and she went to change in the back. "At least I have a uniform." She mumbled on her way.

"Ok everyone, we're open." Naruto shouted back, flicking on the open light in the window and propping the door open. A few people walked in immediately, seating themselves in a few of the booths on the side.

It didn't take long for the bar to almost fill up. Mitsune was an excellent poker player, and she did nicely with the steady stream of customers heading her way. With two waiters now (Naruto continued waiting tables) customers were handled swiftly, and Tae made excellent drinks.

The bell rang again and Naruto was happy to see some familiar faces. Tenten was the first in, pulling what looked like a resigned Neji by the hand. He was struggling, but his heart obviously wasn't in it. Ino followed, looking ready to cut loose and have a good time. Sakura, on the other hand, was suspicious of the whole place, not quite sure she agreed with Naruto owning a bar (she knew how she felt about the brothel)

"Hey Motoko, I'm taking a break, cool with you?" she offered no rejections, so he grabbed a bear and walked over to the group. Sasuke was there, but he hadn't seen him before because he was still in the doorway. "Hey all! We got a table for you over here!" as he steered the group over, he sat down himself and took a large swig of beer. It was fairly high quality stuff, crisp and cool, and it tasted good.

"Wow, Naruto, and here I was thinking this place would be some hole in the wall." Ino said, admiring the wooden furnishings.

"Why didn't you tell me about this place earlier? I could've used somewhere to get away from everyone." Sasuke said, half-kidding.

Naruto took everyone's orders, sent them to Tae and walked back to the table. "Where's Team 10? I thought for sure Kiba would be here, and Shino too." He said, frowning slightly.

"Oh, they'll be over later with Lee. Don't know why." Tenten said with a shrug.

To Naruto's surprise, Neji's first beer was gone almost as soon as he put it down. Everyone stared. "Jeez, just because I like beer doesn't make me a freak…" he said, blushing slightly.

Soon everyone broke into groups of chatter, Naruto sitting back and enjoying the company. Sakura was trying to get Sasuke to agree to a date, hoping to take advantage of his possible inebriation. Tenten, on the other hand, was downing beers almost as quickly as Neji. They looked like old drinking buddies, arms around each other shoulder, slightly flushed, talking in loud voices.

Ino was laughing at Sakura's ungainly attempts to win over Sasuke. Ino had gotten over her Sasuke crush, admitting at one point or another than she knew he wouldn't like her and was only going along with it in spite for Sakura's dismissal of their friendship.

The bell rung again, and sure enough, Hinata, Lee, Shino and Kiba wandered in. "Hello my friends! May we join you in your celebration of youth?" Lee said loudly, putting on his (nearly patented) Nice Guy pose.

"Sure Lee, c'mere and sit down, man!" Neji said loudly in varying tones. Yup, thought Naruto, he was definitely toasted.

"Yeah, sit down! Have a beer! Party around!" Tenten said, weaving slightly. Alcohol, apparently, hit a bit harder for Tenten than for Neji, because she looked on the verge of collapsing, and was still a few beers behind Neji.

"Tenten, youthful revelry is one thing, but too much can be detrimental to your health." Lee said gently, inspiring laughter in everyone as he gently tugged her beer out of her hand.

"Hey, Naruto! Hinata told me this place was yours, so can I get some booze over here!" Kiba said, plopping down in a seat and banging the table loudly. In contrast, Hinata and Shino sat quietly next to him, ordering a beer each.

"Sure, you can have all the booze you want." Naruto said. "It won't be free, and we take no liability for whatever you do, but you can have it." He walked away and returned with a bunch of beers, set them in the middle of the table, and watched as people snatched one or two.

"Naruto, this is a very nice place for a bar." Hinata said quietly, scooting over to sit next to him.

"Yeah, I thought so. I haven't been to many, but it just seems to give off a nice vibe, you know?" he said proudly, sitting back and admiring his property.

"Yeah," she said, "I think I know what you-" she started, but was interrupted by a huge burst of laughter and a few lewd remarks from Kiba. They looked over and saw, to their amazement, Tenten and Neji engaged in a deep kiss. It hadn't broken for over a minute, and showed no sign of doing so.

"Didn't know you had it in you, Neji." Sasuke said, clapping the boy on the back.

"Alcohol makes strange things happen to people." Lee said after congratulating Neji and Tenten. "Myself included." Everyone still sober had noticed Lee purposely avoiding drinking beer, apparently the flashbacks of his battle with Kimimaro having reached him.

"They probably won't remember it anyway, so why not let them have their fun." Hinata said a little louder than usual. A flush had risen in her pale cheeks and she was leaning on Naruto's arm rather hard. He looked over and noticed several bottles in front of her.

He didn't know quite what to say. He had never thought Hinata would get drunk, let alone hang on his arm, which incidentally was starting to get numb. He didn't really want to brush her off, though, so he sat there until Ino leaned across him and asked Hinata something, and she and Naruto traded places.

There was a huge crash on his other side, and he looked over instantly to see Kiba with a broken bottle in his hand. "Hey, Shino, why don't you say that again, bastard. Go for it." He said, waving the bottle around. Shino looked strangely surprised, as though he couldn't tell whether to bash the man or to walk away.

Naruto made the choice for him. "Kiba, if you're going to get violent your going to have to leave." He said, as politely as he could.

Hinata finally realized what was going on. She practically glowed with anger, and gave Kiba a firm poke in the rib. A slight blue aura appeared on his other side, and he slumped back onto the seat with a dazed look on his face. She turned away from Kiba and began talking as though nothing had happened.

"Hey, Sasuke, you've been remarkably quiet. You alive over there?" Naruto shouted across the table, happy at the defused Kiba.

"I'm fine; I just don't want to make a fool of myself." He said, rigidly, looking at Tenten and Neji, who were still making out, and Kiba who was slumped over. Naruto advised him to play some poker, which he eventually did.

It was way past eleven when Naruto finally looked at the clock. Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Sakura and Sasuke had left earlier. Neji and Tenten stopped their make out session when, much to their chagrin, they finally understood what was going on. They both blushed severely at several remarks from their friends ("Eventually we all just assumed that you were still making out.") and they left in carefully staggered intervals.

Lee, having sat there perfectly sober for quite a while, got bored, and left shortly after, wishing Naruto and Ino a good night. After a while, Ino asked "What did you mean when you said you didn't employ prostitutes?"

Naruto was amazed she still remembered that. "Well, I got the idea from the Super Pervert." And eventually he explained, in a round about manner, the workings of the brothel.

"So everyone who goes in there is sleeping with one of your clones?" she said. Surprisingly, she didn't seem, as Naruto thought she would, disgusted. She looked thoughtful (remarkably so after a night of light drinking), and seemed almost impressed.

"Well, it's better than running all the risks and problems prostitutes bring about."

Naruto didn't know whether to pursue the topic or let it be, so he simply sat there. "Sorry Ino, but I should probably get back to work." He said, standing up. "See you later."

"See ya." She said, and walked out the door.

The rest of the evening was fairly uneventful. Naruto survived the poisonous looks of Motoko ("I thought you were going to help me out with all this!") and the reveling of Mitsune, whose poker table had raked in an amazing profit. Overall, the night had gone very well, the profits better than any had been in Gin's time.

After congratulating the staff (and apologizing to Motoko), Naruto had them all go home and closed up shop himself. Tonight was certainly interesting. It was interesting to him, strangely, how much it had mattered to him what his friends thought. Even though he didn't realize he was anxious, as he lay down in bed, he felt tension uncurling.

It felt good, somehow, to know that you were succeeding at something. Being a ninja was all well and good, but it was nice to do something that didn't involve honing your skill at killing other people. Somehow life was different when strength wasn't all that mattered.

He was halfway through thinking all of this when he fell asleep, his thoughts bouncing around his head peacefully. He vaguely wondered what would happen next, and decided that it wasn't that bad, just living a normal life.


	3. The Bar, the Jounins and the Hokage

Hi everybody, me again. Sorry about the wait, I don't know how long it was but it was longer than the waits for the other. I had a bit of writers block. I'm such a paranoid freak; I keep thinking 'what if they hate it and it's not as good and everyone never reads it again…' and all those other horrible possibilities. Anyway, I've got a lot (in my opinion) of reviews, and it's very satisfying to know A) that people are reviewing and B) that no one has told me it's crap yet. Oh, and sorry for the random spelling errors and stuff, I try but no one's perfect…

KatonKageNaruto : Don't worry, Naruto won't end up like mo. Glad to know it's ok that it isn't a Love Hina crossover, cause otherwise I would be like 'oh, crap, I have to make the characters different from what I planned.'

XAegis-SRX : No, I'm honestly not thinking what a freak because, writing this at 12:50 am myself. I usually stay up till about two, then go to bed. Yes, between Tsunade and Naru, the sheer girl power would be enough to launch Jiraya to orbit. Although he's a bit more skilled than Keitaro… But maybe he's more aerodynamic or something…

Keltosh : I'm glad to know this keeps interest. I've never seen it done before, so I hope it's original. I'm not actually sure what I'll do with the pairings, I'm actually going to take fan opinions (as will be detailed at the bottom of the page). The ultimate choice, however, rests on my shoulders and mine alone. Just to warn you all.

NarutoDemon : Glad you approve!

kyuubi () :Interesting is good. The pairings, as I say, are still up in the air.

Shinobifighter : See above comment, glad to know your eager.

Mist Aura: See above comments, and no, I'm sorry, there will not be SasuNaru. I'm sorry, but that's one of the few pairings I really dislike. I don't mind Yaoi ( I don't actively write it unless it serves a specific point, on the other hand) but that pairing is over done and, in my opinion, bogus. Sorry.

Preventer Squall : True, Naruto doesn't seem very peaceful, but I was trying to emphasize that in the life of a shinobi it doesn't all have to be stab and jutsu. They can be normal people just like you or me. Only with super powers. So not like us.

hexkun : Yeah, I personally would have stretched the drinking part longer, but I thought It might get boring for other people. Gotta serve the masses, not just the individual.

SmacksKiller : You'd be surprised how many people have expressed their desire to see what Tsunade does when she finds out. Well rejoice, my friends, for this chapter lays that to rest! I just hope I did it in satisfactorily…

ON WITH THE SHOW!

It had been two weeks since Naruto had first opened his bar. To his slight surprise, his friends actually came again. He had suspected they had simply been humoring him, but sure enough they had a regular table every Thursday. Not surprisingly, this was also the most profitable day of the week for him.

He awoke with a start. It wasn't obviously apparent what had woken him up, until another huge bang echoed from his door. Rubbing his eyes andmumbling groggily, heshuffled over to the door, and slid it open.

And was promptly flung backwards as a fist planted itself firmly in his face. He hit the wall on the other side of the room swearing. "What the hell is your goddamn problem!" he said, grabbing a kunai from the pack he had in the pocket of his ninja outfit.

"Oh, sorry Naruto. I wasn't expecting you to open the door just then." A startled Tsunade said, looking down at the boy with a sheepish grin.

"Oh, it's you. What do you want?" he said, dropping the kunai and rubbing the back of his head where he had run into the wall and groping around for a tissue to stem the bleeding from his nose. "Damn, that was one hell of a wakeup call, Tsunade. I think you broke my nose."

She scowled at him. "I think you'd probably deserve it, but still…" she said, and made a hand seal and slapped him hard in the cheek. He spiraled sideways, but when he got himself up, his nose was fine.

He stared at her as he mopped up the blood. "You couldn't just tap me, could you?" he asked.

"Hey, healing hurts. Listen, how about I give you a minute to get dressed?" she said, and sure enough Naruto realized that he was only wearing his boxers. He blushed a shade of red akin to a tomato and hurried her out of the room.

A few minutes later, Naruto walked out wearing a white linen shirt and a black pair of comfortable pants, his cheeks still slightly red. "Now that we're done with that, what did you actually come here for?"

Tsunade instantly glared at him. "Sakura told me that, not only do you work at a bar and brothel, but you own it!"

Naruto barely managed a "Yeah, so…" before she all but knocked him over. "What were you thinking! If you needed money so badly that you had to sell your body for it you should have told me, you brat! I would have helped you out!" she cried, leaping foreword and standing over Naruto like a mother hen.

"Wait, wait, did Sakura tell you I was a prostitute!" he said, blushing again, this time with a mix of anger.

Tsunade shrugged and back off a bit. "How else do you work in a brothel?"

"But if I owned the brothel, why would I stood to being a prostitute myself?" he said, trying to make her back down with reason.

"Because…um…well maybe… ok, I guess I didn't think it through all that much." She said in a defeated tone of voice. "But still, you own a brothel! Your not even supposed to know where to find one at your age!" she said, getting back on her old argument.

Naruto's patience was wearing out. "Look, I didn't buy it; I inherited it from the man who owned it first. First of all, I got over it, and so should you. Second, I'm not even employing prostitutes, so that's not a problem. Third, what I do is mainly as a bar, the brothel is just here because Gin left it here and it rakes in to much money to close." He said, fairly quickly. "And finally, no offense, but when did it become your business what I do outside of being a ninja?"

Tsunade blushed. After all the time they had spent with each other, she felt almost like Naruto was her brother. She was worried at the thought of him owning something like this on moral grounds, but she realized that she was treating him like he was still twelve years old. "Well," she said softly, "I suppose it doesn't. I'm sorry for intruding." She said, and turned heel and walked toward the door.

"Tsunade, wait!" Naruto said, placing a hand on her shoulder. He spun her around, and was startled to see tears in her eyes. "There's nothing to cry about, Tsunade! I'm not mad or anything, it was just-" he tried to explain, but was unable to do so as Tsunade embraced him.

She held the struggling boy like that for several minutes before speaking. "Your growing up, Naruto." She said quietly as she looked at the boy. She almost fell over as she noticed he was standing there with a dazed look on his face as she had shoved his face into her oversized chest. She was debating between blushing and apologizing or calling him a pervert and beating the hell out of him. She settled for the middle ground.

"You pervert!" she shouted, blushing furiously as she slammed her fist into his cheek. "You're almost as bad as Jiraya." She said, shaking her head slightly before she walked out the door. "I'll drop by later!" she said with a little wave on her way out.

Naruto sat up and rubbed his cheek. It still stung, but at least it hadn't broken anything. "She's the one that hugged me…" he said angrily, but he knew he wasn't really mad at her. Truth be told, he was touched by what she had said, but he wouldn't let her know that.

Looking at the clock, Naruto saw it was around eleven. It was Tuesday today, which was always a slow day for the bar. He rang up Tae and Motoko and toldthemthey could take the day off, he would cover for them. He had recently learned how to bartend, and got his license for it, so he could take care of making the drinks himself.

He was bored, and looked around for something to do but couldn't find it. The sudden rumble in his stomach told him exactly what he needed to do. A few minutes of walking later, he arrived at the Ichiraku Noodle bar, sat down and ordered a bowl of ramen noodles.

Loud voices came in from the street. He would recognize that voice anywhere. "Gaara!" he said, walking out into the street and walking over to the red haired shinobi. "I haven't seen you in forever!"

"Oh, hello Naruto." He said in his usual dry voice. He was flanked by Kankuro and Temari, who both said a short hello. "What are you doing here?"

The blond boy pointed into the ramen shop. "Oh, I was hungry so I was getting some ramen when I heard you guys outside of the shop and figured I'd say hi." He said quickly. "So what're excellent sand shinobi like you doing in a town like this?"

"Oh, we finished a mission near by and got permission to rest here before heading back to Suna." Gaara said, looking in the shop behind Naruto. "I believe that would be your food." He said as a bell rang from inside and the chef called out.

"Yeah, probably. Hey, I own a bar now, so stop by when you get the chance." He said, scribbling the address on a slip of paper and handing it to Gaara. "Tuesdays are quiet, but on Thursdays all the Leaf nins come and hang out!" he called over as he walked under the drapes and ate his ramen.

Later that night, Naruto was sitting behind the bar of his place, cleaning a glass. Like always, it was a slow day, the only people in the bar were the fulltime alcoholics and the occasional; ' customer for the backroom', as Mitsune called them cryptically. The doorbell rang, and Naruto looked up and found Kakashi staring at him.

"What's the holdup, Kakashi? Move your ass out of the doorway, please." A familiar voice said, a foot planted itself in Kakashi's back, sending him stumbling foreword. Walking in after him was a woman Naruto had seen before but didn't quite know a name for.

"Hey Kakashi. What're you doing here? And whose the beautiful lady in tow?" Naruto said dryly. It was obvious that his old teacher hadn't expected Naruto to be there.

"Oh, hey Naruto, long time no see. Um, this is..." he trailed off, obviously put off by the situation.

"Stop being a wuss, Kakashi." The woman said, slapping him on the shoulder. "I'm Kurenai, Team 10's teacher, you've probably seen me before. Kakashi's embarrassed because I bet him a date that Hinata could beat Sakura in a training match and he lost." She said, walking in and plopping herself at a table. "I take it you were one of his students?"

Kakashi obviously didn't want to be seen with Kurenai, afraid someone might get some ideas. Naruto was toying between good and evil, debating whether to use the blackmail or let Kakashi off the hook. He decided to reserve his judgment wither way and take their orders.

"Just give me a pitcher." Kakashi said, sitting down and gesturing slightly with his hand.

"Do you have any wine?" Kurenai asked, going for the dignified approach as opposed to Kakashi's brusqueness.

"Yeah, give me a sec." Naruto said, walking behind the bar and grabbing a bottle of wine. Pouring a glass, he brought it over to the table. "On the house." He said, producing the glass with a flourish. Kurenai laughed and accepted, drinking deeply on her first gulp then setting it aside.

There was a burst of alcohol inspired conversation between the two before the door rang again and Tsunade walked in. "Hey Naruto!" Tsunade said loudly, walking in and stopping when she saw Kakashi and Kurenai.There was an silence akin to the calm before a storm.

Tsunade gazed for a while before a smug look came across her face. Kakashi almost simultaneously groaned. "Why hello there Kakashi."

"Hey there Tsunade." Kurenai said happily, patting Kakashi on the back.

"I'm never gonna' live this down, am I?" Kakashi mumbled and downed another mug.

"Nope." Tsunade agreed. She looked around the room and her eyes lit up as they fell on the poker table. "Hey everyone, how about a game of poker?" she said, a glint in her eye.

Kurenai accepted, Kakashi downed another mug and agreed, and Naruto looked around to make sure nothing else was going on in the bar before leading them over.

"Hey Mitsune, we've got a game!" Naruto shouted at the sleeping girl. She leapt up, shook herself awake and shuffled the cards.

"Five card draw?" she asked, and everyone agreed. "Good." She dealt the cards to everyone and looked questioningly at Naruto. "Home game or business?"

Everyone followed her example until Naruto explained. "In a home game you pay a flat fee and can wager whatever you want but not chips. We've actually had a couple games of strip poker." He said, remembering the time when a group of girls actually requested a screen as Mitsune beat them mercilessly. She looked very happy at the end of that day. "A business game is when you play with the dealer using chips."

"Somehow I don't think strip poker is in the cards." She said, remembering her reputation. "How about a business game?" everyone agreed but Naruto stepped out.

"I can't very well bet against my own business, can I?" he said,walking over to a booth to watch. As he went away, he said over his shoulder "No mercy, Mitsune. Friends are friends, after all."

Mitsune was the only girl he knew who actually wore an unlucky charm. They had played a couple staff games before, and when Mitsune played for keeps she beat them all every time. There was no explanation, and they knew she wasn't cheating.

Sure enough, she reached into her sleeve and untied a broken piece of leather and cracked her knuckles loudly, a vaguely evilgrin on her face. It didn't last 10 minutes before Tsunade was out. She stepped back to watch the game and sat down next to Naruto.

"I've never been out that fast. Usually I get at least one lucky hand." She said, looking slightly disappointed. Naruto looked at the huge pile of chips on the table and laughed.

"Tsunade, if you come back even once a month you'll make me a very happy boy." He laughed. Being the friend of the Hokage really did have benefits. Tsunade mumbled something but he missed it. "What was that?"

"I think she's manifesting chakra." Tsunade said quietly. She looked at the girl and took a small lens out of her pocket and held it in front of her eye. "Here, take a look." As Naruto looked through it, he saw utter blackness except around the pool table, where a white light emanated from Mitsune and filled the area around her.

"What the hellis that?" he asked as he handed it back to the Hokage.

"It's a chakra lens. Every ninja emits chakra when techniques are used, and this helps you in a fight if you strap it around your eye. But most people don't unleash chakra constantly…" She said more to herself than Naruto. "That implies almost an aura of chakra, which looks like it bends events around her. But that's unheard of, no ninja has ever released his or her chakra continuously in an aura…"

Naruto realized the implications. Running out of chakra carried the penalty of death. To release your chakra continuously from all around you was tantamount to suicide. But many of the results of chakra application, catching onto things, running on difficult surfaces, could almost be passed off as luck, manipulating circumstances to the benefit of the user…

But that implied a huge chakra source generating it. Naruto looked at his poker player with a new light entirely. Who the hell was she to have this much chakra…

Kurenai let out a noise of frustration and pushed her stool away from the table. "I'm out…" she said, saying good bye to everyone before heading out.

Kakashi was locked in a struggle. So far he had managed to hang on, but he was increasingly pressured. Nonchalantly, he slipped his headband up over his sharingan eye as he pretended to scratch his head. Mitsune looked astounded as her read her bluff as plain as day and won back a large pot. She looked suspiciously at his left eye and then over to Tsunade and Naruto. "Hey, what's up with that trippy eye?" She said loudly. "You were flailing like a drunken monkey, then you pull out your eye and suddenly you're Mr. Mind Reader?"

Tsunade gave thejounin a dirty look before Naruto shouted over, "You took off your lucky charm, he's got his sharingan, so you're even. Kick his ass anyway. It'll be good for his ego."

Mitsune grinned and Tsunade laughed. The two players squared off looking deadly serious as they laid out the cards. "Hey, Naruto," Tsunade asked after minutes of betting. "Where are these brothels?"

Naruto wasn't quite sure what she was asking. "Need to get laid, do you?" he said, and received a slap across the cheek that was probably harder than she intended, because she was laughing.

"You wish. Just curious, boy, nothing more." She said, and Naruto shrugged and led her into the back rooms. There was no one in there at the moment (none of the little 'occupied' signs hanging from the door knob) so he knocked on the door before opening it.

Inside was a large bed and bad lighting, with a naked woman with blond pigtails and whisker marks across her cheeks seductively covered by the blankets. "Hey, isn't that your Ninja centerfold chick?" Tsunade asked. She had seen this a while back when she walked in on Naruto convincing Jiraya to train him. She had beaten them both senseless, needless to say.

"Yeah. I felt bad about forcing people to work as prostitutes, so I just kind of made my own. And they've worked remarkably well, and as they can change their shape I usually just put out a little checklist of various features." He said, trying to keep the embarrassment from his voice.

"Hmm?" Naruto was actually surprised. He thought she would think himdisgusting, but she was actually taking it fairly well. She even seemed slightly interested, which he wasn't sure was good or creepy. She asked to see a copy of the slip, which looked, almost disturbingly, like a make-your-own-sandwich form, columns headed by the category with options below them and a 'specifics' box placed in the bottom corner.

"The clones burn these when they receive them, so there's total anonymity between us and our customers."

"I can't tell whether to be impressed, interested or slightly creeped out." She said finally. "So you don't know who uses these things?" she said casually.

"You seem awfully curious." Naruto said suspiciously. "It's almost like-" But he never finished his sentence as they heard a shout of victory from the other room. They rushed back and found Mitsune crowing over a huge pile of chips, Kakashi facedown on the table.

"Naruto, we've never made this much money before!" She said happily, counting it up quickly.

"We've also never had the Hokage as a customer." He chuckled. Tsunade blushed furiously.

"I think it's definitely time to go." Tsunade said, looking at the clock. Naruto followed her gaze and was amazed that it was way past two in the morning. "Come on, Kakashi." Tsunade said, helping the moping ninja to his feet.

On his way out, he turned around and shouted over to Mitsune. "Don't get cocky, kid! I'll kick your ass yet!" he said as Tsunade steered him out.

Mitsune flicked him off and stuck out her tongue. "I was happy to take your money now and I'll be happy to do so then." There was a various exchange of insults before the door finally closed.

"You should probably go too Mitsune, I'll pay you overtime." Naruto said as the girl yawned. She waved sleepily on her way out and Naruto closed shop as soon as she left.

Lying in his bed, his thoughts strayed to Tsunade's comments about Mitsune. Manifesting chakra like that was unheard of, even in the ninja world. If she ever learned to do something with it… there were many possibilities for her. But that, he decided, was for another day. He closed his eyes, started counting backwards from one hundred and was asleep before he hit ninety.

THE FOOTNOTE

Ok, this is the first footnote I've done so far. First in order, I'm accepting votes for pairings! Basically anyone you can think of that I would logically add is fair game, and more of the konoha nins that I forgot will be added later. Sorry, but no crack pairings (LeeNruto, for example), but unusual yet viable pairings are ok. No SasuNaru either, for reasons I have stated above. Yaoi and Yuri are ok, but don't go wild with it. Secondly, I'm looking for a beta reader, you know, someone who'll give it the once over before I submit it. And, though I'm probably being presumptuous, I'm willing to the option of request fics, preferably one shots, so give me a shout about it. Whew, that was a long footnote…


	4. Ah, the Drama of the Staff

Wow, sorry for the long update times. I've been doing other stuff and have been really preoccupied. Well, this chapter's short but it's got some plot development stuff, so yeah. I almost feel bad for Tae if I didn't know she was better off. I always torture my characters so…You know, I was amazed at how difficult I found it to find a simple attack jutsu for Mitsune to do. All the jutsus have some trippy requirement or do something indirectly. It's crazy. Anyway, there has been a lot of pairing votes, and it's funny to see how everyone takes this stuff.

Hexkun: Sorry, but I like yaoi the way it is in real life; the exception, not the rule. Yaoi is abused so much, it's beyond the point of lame. And half the time they can't even do it right.

Kyuubi: I dislike yaoi, though it doesn't scare me shitless, but yuri I'm actually ok with. Ok, I know I'm a horrible sexist bastard, but most of the time people actually write yuri better than yaoi, because they actually have to have a reason. With yaoi, it's like, 'hey, everyone else does it, so I can do it without even rationalizing it!' look at me trying to defend myself…

Arkh: Well yeah, some of the brothel parts are disturbing, but that's ok. Why I would ever think of this I don't know, I just don't…

Big Daddy cool: Yeah, that would be funny, and I have bee toying with the idea of having some of the girls take the brothel for a spin, but somehow I don't think I can go with the other idea on I don't want to get thrown off… . . 

Naruto-sama: Glad you approve. Sometimes it's nice to get a simple good job.

KatonKageNaruto: You know, I'm really glad you added the but it's ok if I don't pick those pairings, not because I think they're bad, but because A) I don't know how I would work them in necessarily, and B) there are some people that refuse anything that isn't a certain pairing. And to these people, I have this to say: Fine, don't read it. No one's making you.

Keltosh: Wow man. You've got some serious ideas in there. Are you like a professional writer or something? Anyway, I'll work around with it. Thanks for all the input.

Crazytreeotaku: I like gaara too, he's the all…I SQUISH YOU ALL! MUAHAHAHAHAHAH! But, considering the only contact he ever has with her is when he squishes her to the tree, I don't see that. Somehow that pairing never rings true to me…

Bookwork512: You know, I don't really like any pairing with Sakura. I don't like her in general, and she only has eyes for sasuke. I think she's pathetic. I mean, she's declared her undying love to the bastard, and she's what, 12? 13? It's insane. So anyway, that's basically my summary of all this.

Drunkdragon: The problem with Naruhina in this fic is that Hinata has so much competition and kindof gets lost in the back ground. Besides, Naruto doesn't seem to realize she exists sexually, but maybe things will change!

Naruto had just gotten his cup of morning coffee from the bar before he heard a knocking on the door. He walked forward and flipped the lock, wondering who would be knocking at the door. He had paid all his bills (there had been an early book keeping error when two REPO men came to repossess his bar), and he didn't think Tsunade would storm in like she had before again.

He opened the door to a sobbing Tae. "Tae, what happened?" he said. She was one of the strongest women he knew (and considering half of them were ninja, this was saying something), and if h thought back he realized he had never seen her cry before, even when she broke several of her toes bringing in the crates of beer. Swear like a drunken sailor, but never cry.

"Naruto, do you think it would be ok if I stayed with you for a while?" She sobbed. Her eyes were red and puffy, and there were thin lines down her cheeks where she had been crying.

"Of course, Tae, come on in." He said and ushered the girl in, sitting her down and handing her a cup of coffee. After she had calmed down a bit, he asked her what happened again.

She blew her nose, wiped her eyes on her sleeve and told him. "My fiancée broke up with me." She said and almost broke down again, before visibly holding herself together.

"You had a fiancée?" Naruto said in shock before he could stop himself.

She smacked his shoulder. "I have a life outside the bar, you know. And I generally keep them very separate."

"Yeah, but I didn't even know you had a boyfriend."

She sighed. "We had been going out for years, right about when you started working here. He was nice for the first while, just enough to get me to stay, and even when he wasn't nice by that point I was so wrapped up that I made excuses for him to myself."

She sniffed loudly again and took a deep swig of coffee. "Then he asked me to marry him, and I said yes, so I moved in with him. And today after a little bit, he just told me 'Oh, sorry, I forgot to warn you. We're through, Tae. Would you get out of my apartment?' LIKE IT WAS NOTHING!" She shouted, slamming the coffee cup on the table hard enough to make the coffee come out the top.

"That's horrible…" Naruto said. He wasn't sure quite what to do for her. Fortunately for him, she continued.

"And then when I go to the door, some blond bimbo with breast the size of my head walks up trailing suitcases, and she was like 'oh, do I have the right apartment?' And of course she did, and he walks up and starts making out with the girl like I wasn't even there! They all but fucked each other right then and there." She let out a little sob.

"And here I am." She finished lamely, walking over to the bar and filling her now empty coffee cup with gin.

"How long had you been living with him?" Naruto said after minutes of silence.

She finished the cup with a gulp. "About a two months." She said, reaching for the bottle again.

"And you didn't realize he was a dipshit till just now?"

"Like I said, my mind just kept making excuses for him. 'Oh, they're just old friends.' 'Oh, he doesn't really mean it.' 'Oh, he's had a hard day at work.'" She drained the cup, a look of disgust on her face. "I was in love with the bastard, Naruto. I was going to spend my life with him. I even ironed his goddamn shirts for him."

Naruto walked over and gently grabbed the gin bottle. As he put it away, Tae asked from behind him, in one of the quietest voices he had ever heard her use, "So could I stay with you for a while?"

He winced mentally. He personally had no problem living with Tae, he knew that she was nice enough and (As the small voice in the back of his head prompted), was very pretty, well proportioned and lean. His more rational side, on the other hand, was thinking of the ramifications of this.

What would his friends think? What would the other girls think? This would definitely take him down a notch on the eligibility factor (Though come to think of it, what did he care? Most of the women in the village thought him a monster.) But what would the few people whose opinions mattered to him think? Most of the boys would make lewd references a bit more, but who cared about that?

Hinata would probably understand and think it nice that he was there for his friends. Ino would probably be suspicious, but would get it after a discussion with Tae (That she would undoubtedly have). What worried him most were Sakura and Tsunade. Sakura seemed to be the most hostile toward his occupation already, and Tsunade would probably think this meant something more, though she would get it eventually too.

Oh hell with it. "Of course you can stay Tae. You're welcome anytime." He turned around and was shocked when a pair of strong arms encircled and embraced him softly.

"Thank you, Naruto…" Tae said, resting her head on his shoulder, allowing the tears to come freely. Naruto stood there for a little while, not sure whether to hug back or to push away. In the end, he settled for letting her cry on him and patting her back awkwardly. It was a token of friendship that neither of them was embarrassed to hug like this.

After getting Tae settled in one of the rooms (She had fairly little by way of personal objects and didn't object to sleeping in a 'used' bed), he walked into the city. Today he had scheduled himself some time to see what was going on with Mitsune and her chakra.

The fact that she manifested chakra so was strange. The fact that she had a talisman to seal away such chakra was stranger. And the huge chakra she possessed nearly begged an investigation.

After knocking several times at her door, there was a groggy shout. He stepped back a little and nearly fell over when the door opened to the swearing youth. "What the hell do you want at 11 in the goddamn morning? Oh, Naruto! Hi!" She said, standing in the doorway.

"Mitsune," Naruto said, closing his eyes and turning around. "Please put some clothes on!" The girl was standing at the door, stripped to her skin, leaning forward slightly.

"OH!" She cried with a blush. She closed the door with a snap and emerged a few moments later, dressed in a comfortable t-shirt and sweats. "Sorry about that…" she said sheepishly.

Naruto opened his eyes and turned back to the girl. "That's ok, no harm done." The little voice in his head was still fixated on her. 'Mitsune's breasts…' Naruto shook his head. "Anyway, I was wondering if you'd come with me for a bit. The Hokage might have figured out what's up with your luck."

Mitsune looked hesitant. "What if once I know what it is, it goes away?"

Naruto laughed. "Not likely. Anyway, come on." He led the girl about four blocks to the city center. Walking through the double doors, he strode to the information desk, Mitsune in tow. "I'm here to see Tsunade? I don't have an appointment, but that's should be ok."

The desk nin looked at him, but said nothing as he turned and rang up to the Hokage's room. When there was no answer, he sighed. "Go on up."

Naruto pushed open the oak doors to the Hokage's office and stood there. Tsunade was lying there asleep, her pace pressed against a form. She was snoring slightly, and as they walked in she opened her eyes groggily. "What do you want?" she said, not unkindly.

"Hey Tsunade. I was wondering if you wanted to have some people check out Mitsune." Naruto said, trying hard not to laugh.

"Oh, the chakra girl. Sure, the research team would love to take a look at her. Follow me." She said with a yawn she took them down a corridor to a grey elevator. "We keep the nerds down here to make sure various things go off without a noticeable giant explosion."

As the door opened, the elevator was filled with white light. As they walked in, various cubes with seal papers plastered over them were sitting here, the people inside them trying to work through jutsus never seen before. One man spit out what looked to be a hail of fangs, another with a seal on his stomach turn into a long viper that hissed and spat.

Tsunade stopped in front of a desk. The man behind it was slight and short, with brown hair and a patchy beard. "What is it this time Tsunade? One of your slugs again?" He sounded bored.

"No, Onrou, this time it's a real anomaly. This girl's got some strange chakra stuff. Try the lens." She said, pitching the object to him. As he looked through it, he gasped. "What the hell is this kid?"

The rest of the day was spent watching Mitsune take test after test. She had to job, jump, run, but the most eventful test was when she molded chakra. "Mitsune," Onrou said through a speaker into her cube, "Now I need you to hold your hands like this," he made Tiger seal, and she copied him, "and focus you energy into your hands. Try to envision the network of your body and focus you energy through-"and in the middle of speaking, there was a sudden burst of light.

Mitsune was standing there, a golden chakra surrounding her body. As they watched, it formed into two huge wings behind her back. Onrou was almost too shocked to speak, but he managed the next set of instructions. "Now Mitsune, make these seals with your hands, take in a breath of air, focus chakra into your stomach, and breathe out!" he yelled through the speaker, the noise of her chakra filling the area.

She did as she was told, and there was a huge explosion. Tsunade grabbed Onrou and hauled him behind the desk, Naruto jumping on his own. When the dust cleared, the whole side of the cube was blown apart, a path of destruction going in a 10 foot diameter spread straight through the wall and into the stone on the other side.

"What the hell was that!" Naruto shouted.

"That was incredible!" Onrou shouted. "Not only was she able to perform Katon: Gokakkyuu no jutsu, but she that was the most powerful I've ever seen it! And her first time!" he spent the next several minutes in techno jargon. He turned to the girl. "Would you be willing to stay for a while for more tests?"

She shrugged. "Would Naruto let me off the hook for work?"

Naruto laughed. "Sure, why not? I expect to see you tomorrow, on the other hand."

"Ok, see you Naruto." She said as Onrou pulled her into another cube.

And, in a horrible bit of self promotion, I'm advertising another fic that I'm writing! No, I promise I won't stop this fic, but I want to write this other one two. I just ended another huge fic, so I'm feeling a void in my life. Yes, up till now I've been managing 2 fics. This is actually only my second Naruto fic, so I think it's pretty good all considering. The first one can be sent by request, but I don't know why you'd want it considering it 90+ pages of ooc crud and it's nonedited. Anyway, this NEW fic is something I'll post soon, hopefully, and contains one (or possibly more, who knows) significant ooc. He also happens to be a Jinchuuriki(Demon kid.). Anyway, look out for it, and bye!


End file.
